diff --git a/src/scripts/mkdist b/src/scripts/mkdist
index d3471fa8..30380516 100755
--- a/src/scripts/mkdist
+++ b/src/scripts/mkdist
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/sh -e
 tar='tar --owner=0 --group=0 --mode=ug+w,a+rX'
 name=empire
-version=4.2.19			# FIXME automate
+version=`sed -n '/EMP_VERS_/s/#define EMP_VERS_\([A-Z]*\)[ \t]*//p' <include/version.h | tr '\012' . | sed 's/\.$//'`
 srvdir=$name-$version
 clidir=$name-client-$version
 txtdir=$name-info-text-$version